Law and Religion Headlines
Wednesday, 27 April 2022
Crimea: Seven Jehovah’s Witnesses put on trial in Russian-occupied Crimea for studying the Bible
(Halya Coynash, Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group)
The rhetoric of ‘denazification’ of Ukraine from the perspective of the law of occupation
(Marco Longobardo, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)
Sanctions on Russian oligarch donors hit Israel institutions
(Josef Federman, Associated Press)
Ex-president/premier puts religious twist on Russian invasion
(Interfax-Religiia, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))
Serbian patriarch assures Patriarch Kirill of support of Russian Orthodox Church amid Ukraine crisis
(Interfax-Religion)
Head of Ukrainian church urges national religious unity
(RISU, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))
Interfaith dialogue in line with the high-level meeting on the New Urban Agenda
(Religions for Peace)
Canada: Support grows for religious freedom and conscience rights
(Cardus)
Global Conferences: The arts promote peace, inspire service to society
(Bahá’í World News Service)
What role will religion play in the midterm primaries?
(Michael Sean Winters, National Catholic Reporter)
Monday, 25 April 2022
Oral argument - audio: Kennedy v. Bremerton Sch. Dist.
(Supreme Court of the United States)
Are school prayer rules about to change?
(Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)
Prayer shouldn’t be a firing offense
(Joe Kennedy, The Wall Street Journal)
BJC: Students have the right to be free from government-sponsored prayer in public schools
(Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)
Explainer: What you should know about religious liberty and the Coach Kennedy case
(Chelsea Patterson Sobolik, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission)
The religious right had a great day in the Supreme Court
(Ian Millhiser, Vox)
Supreme Court tackles case about praying football coach
(Jessica Gresko, Associated Press)
In the case of the praying football coach, both sides invoke religious freedom
(Amy Howe, SCOTUSblog)
Supreme Court debates if football coach's on-field prayer is religious exercise or 'coercion'
(Michael Gryboski, The Christian Post)
SCOTUS's conservative wing is set to make a mockery of the separation of church and state
(Jessica Levinson, MSNBC)
The Supreme Court ponders the right to pray on the 50-yard line
(Nina Totenberg, National Public Radio)
Egypt’s government frees 41 prisoners ahead of Eid holiday
(Associated Press)
Egyptian Christians alarmed by murder of Alexandria priest
(Al-Monitor)
Egypt: Securing peace for Egypt’s Christians at Coptic Eastertide
(Miles P.J. Windsor, Religion Unplugged)
UK: FoRB video from Parliament
(Twitter, All Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief)
UK: Law and religion round-up – 24th April
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
UK: London court acquits preacher of hate speech charges over sermon on biblical marriage
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)
VIRTUAL EVENT, 25 April 2022 (2PM ET): 2022 Annual Report: Key Findings and Recommendations
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
EVENT, 25 April 2022 (6PM Ontario): Anti-Islamophobia student voice town hall and iftar
(National Council of Canadian Muslims)
To the antisemites who sit next to me at school
(Tal Fortgang, Common Sense)
Temple Mount closes to Jews after weeks of Jewish visits and police clashes
(Gabe Friedman, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
The wisdom of millenniums gave us the Status Quo Agreement in Jerusalem
(Daoud Kuttab, Religion News Service)
Are relations between young US and Israeli Jews fraying? A new poll suggests no.
(Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service)
Youth movement to send first Arab-Israeli group on March of the Living
(Michael Starr, The Jerusalem Post)
USCIRF releases 2022 Annual Report with recommendations for U.S. policy
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Canada: Muslim community calls on Ontario leaders to commit to Our London Family Act after election
(Sawyer Bogdan, Global News)
Afghanistan: US commission: Cite Afghanistan for religious persecution
(Peter Smith, Associated Press)
List Afghanistan as religious liberty violator, report urges State Department
(Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service)
Afghanistan: At least 16 dead as Islamic State-claimed blasts rock Afghan cities
(AFP, Union of Catholic Asian News)
Afghanistan: US watchdog says Afghanistan belongs on religious freedom blacklist
(Elizabeth Hagedorn, Al-Monitor)
Lantos Foundation to honor three remarkable Afghan women with the 2021 Lantos Human Rights Prize
(Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice)
Finland: Prosecutor says quoting Bible is “hate speech,” wants pro-life MP in prison for six years
(Steven Ertelt, Life News)
In India a new pattern emerges: Bulldozing Muslim properties
(Hanan Zaffar and Danish Pandit, Religion Unplugged)
India: Religious freedom in India ‘significantly worsened’: US panel
(Al Jazeera)
India: Minister says poor being forced into religious conversions
(The Hindu)
India: 400th Gurpurb: 9th Sikh Guru stood for religious freedom: CM
(The Tribune)
India: In the first months of 2022, 127 episodes of violence against Christians in India
(Agenzia Fides)
China: House church members raided after Easter baptism
(International Christian Concern)
On the occasion of the Panchen Lama’s 33rd birthday
(Ned Price, U.S. Department of State)
Uyghur internment camp survivors rally outside UN office in Geneva
(Ekrem Hezim, Radio Free Asia)
Spanish Council of the Judiciary warns ‘trans law’ violates rights of parents, women and children
(Evangelical Focus)
Chile: Top human rights court of the Americas fails to uphold parental rights
(ADF International)
Around the web - 25 April 2022
(Law and Religion Forum, St. John's Law School Center for Law & Religion)
Mexico: Pastor-led shelters bring schooling options to migrant kids
(Giovanna Dell'Orto, Associated Press)
Struggling Marymount California University to close
(Associated Press)
Orrin hatch, GOP senator who cosponsored Religious Freedom Restoration Act, dies at 88
(Michael Gryboski, The Christian Post)
First Presidency, other world leaders release statements on Orrin Hatch passing
(Sarah Gambles, Deseret News)
Long-serving US Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah dies at age 88
(Lindsay Whitehurst, Associated Press)
Denial of permission to build Buddhist meditation center did not violate RLUIPA
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Plaintiff in abuse case may discover psychological report in priest's personnel file
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Appellate ruling rejects Albany diocese's efforts to keep pedophile priests' records secret
(Brendan J. Lyons, Albany Times-Union)
Articles of interest - 25 April 2022
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
How Muslim Americans observe zakat, the charitable giving at the heart of Islam
(Shariq Siddiqui, Rafeel Wasif, Micah A. Hughes, Religion News Service)
The slow-moving rift in evangelical Christian higher education
(Jacob Lupfer, Religion News Service)
Hate crimes and antisemitism are rising in NYC. The governor’s plan will make things worse
(Alana Sivin, Forward)
The debate we should be having about Catholicism and the Constitution
(National Review)
Plug-In: Déjà Vu all over again, as religion plays big role in fight over Disney and sex ed
(Bobby Ross Jr., GetReligion)
Germany: Father Joseph Ratzinger's sobering 1969 vision of the future and the new German reality
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)
How inflation and rising gas prices are impacting churches
(Mya Jaradat, Deseret News)
Many Americans say God inspired the Constitution ... except that part about guns
(Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)
Timor Leste archbishop asks president-elect to abide by the Constitution
(La Croix International)
Bahrain Interior Minister receives US delegation of Evangelicals
(Eurasia Review)
Love and respect the Earth: Multi-religious collaboration to address the climate crisis
(Religions for Peace)
Muslim advocacy group says Islamophobic incidents hit 27-year high in 2021
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)
Satanists sue Pennsylvania school district for not allowing ‘Satan Club’
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)
Two weeks in review, 11 – 24 April 2022
(Gail Lythgoe, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)
Philippines: Robredo holds biggest rally in Philippine campaign
(Joseph Peter Calleja, Union of Catholic Asian News)
Yemen urges Muslim countries to seek punishment for those desecrating Quran in Sweden
(International Quran News Agency (IQNA))
Fraud prosecution for specific false statements about meat claimed to be halal allowed,
(Eugene Volokh, The Volokh Conspiracy)
Academic Freedom Alliance letter to St. Olaf College
(Keith E. Whittington, The Volokh Conspiracy)
New book: The Emerging Church, Millennials, and Religion: Volume 2 (Curations and Durations)
(Edited by Terry Shoemaker, Rachel C. Schneider and Xochitl Alvizo, Wipf and Stock Publishers)
Islamic State announces 'revenge' attacks during Ramadan
(Shelly Kittleson, Al-Monitor)
Is ‘woke’ to be the only religion allowed in US public schools?
(Betsy McCaughey, The New York Post)
How an unknown high school football coach landed in the center of a Supreme Court religious liberty case
(Michael A. Fletcher, ESPN)
Religion in the public square (podcast)
(Mark Bauerlein, First Things)
Baptists historically stand for religious liberty
(Baptist Standard)
France: Crucial need for Macron to focus on rights
(Human Rights Watch)
France: 72-year-old nun praised for intervening in stabbing of Polish priest in France
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)
Iraq: Church holds service for first time after ISIS desecrated it 8 years ago
(The Christian Post)
Ukraine marks Orthodox Easter with prayers for those trapped
(Cara Anna and Inna Varenytsia, Associated Press)
Parsing pacifism: Ukraine’s Mennonite heritage shapes Evangelical responses to Russia
(Jayson Casper, Christianity Today)
Bishops back administration’s ‘Uniting for Ukraine’ refugee initiative
(Catholic News Service)
Russian Christian nationalism
(John Alonso Dick, La Croix International)
The Orthodox world has seen that Easter means nothing to Russia - the President of Ukraine
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
Patriarch Kirill urges Russians to stand up to protect national independence
(Interfax-Religion)
Russia sentences Crimean Tatar to 17 years for solidarity with political prisoners
(Halya Coynash, Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group)
Sunday, 24 April 2022
CALL FOR INPUTS, due by 24 April 2022: Combating intolerance against persons based on religion or belief
(Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations)
EVENT, 24 April 2022: Chicago Interfaith Trolley Tour and Iftar
(Chicago Theological Seminary, A Center of Christian-Muslim Engagement for Peace and Justice at Lutheran School of Theology, American Islamic College, the Parliament of the World's Religions, and the Hyde Park Kenwood Interfaith Council)
EVENT, 24 April 2022 (1:30PM ET): Ramadan Behind Bars: Rights and Challenges in the U.S. Prison System and Opportunities for Advocacy
(Islamic Society of Baltimore, Maryland Muslim Prisoner Project (MPP), and ICNA Council for Social Justice)
Friday, 22 April 2022
Praying football coach asking Supreme Court for his job back
(Gene Johnson, Associated Press)
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